Michigan J-1 Visa Waiver Program

Sarah Kleis
KleisS1@michigan.gov

The Michigan State 30 J-1 Visa Waiver Program offers a J-1 Visa waiver to foreign physicians who commit to serving for 3 years in an underserved area of Michigan, waiving the foreign medical residency requirement and allowing them to remain in the United States.

Primary care physicians, hospitalists, and specialists are eligible to apply.

Priority is given to applications for:

• Safety net providers working in:
  • County health departments
  • Federally Qualified Health Centers and Look-Alikes
  • Community mental health centers
  • Free clinics
  • Critical Access Hospitals and associated clinics
  • State correction and psychiatric facilities
  • Certified rural health clinics
• Primary care specialties:
  • Family medicine
  • Pediatrics
  • Internal medicine
  • Obstetrics/gynecology
  • Psychiatry
• Placements in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), which have greater unmet need for primary care physicians than medically underserved areas and non-designated areas

This is an incentive program that offers foreign physicians a visa waiver, allowing them to work in the U.S.

Links to attachments, guidelines, and the application, including guidance for using the electronic application system, are available on the program website.

An application checklist is provided in the application guidelines.

The application cycle begins on the first business day in September and closes on the first business day of November. If fewer than 30 applications are received by the deadline, a second application window may be announced.